New Zealand legislator refuses to apologise to "racist" Howard

Jul 10, 2007, 2:59 GMT

Wellington - New Zealand Maori Party legislator Hone Harawira would not apologise for his 'racist bastard' comment aimed at Australian Prime Minister John Howard, despite being reprimanded Tuesday by his caucus colleagues and prime minister.

   Hawawira on Sunday blasted Howard's radical attempts to end alcoholism and child abuse in Aboriginal communities. The measures, announced last month, include bans on alcohol and pornography, the monitoring of welfare payments, and mobilization of extra police and troops

   Harawira told the indigenous current affairs show Native Affairs that 'John Howard is a racist bastard imposing racist policies on a people who are not in a position to fight back.'

   Harawira told a press conference in parliament Tuesday that he would not apologise for his comments.

   'That's how I felt about it. Quite frankly that's still how I feel about it,' he told reporters.

   The press conference followed a Maori Party Tuesday morning (NZT) caucus meeting called to discuss the issue.

   Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples told the press conference that he was concerned Harawira had personally singled out Howard.

   Sharples said this was at odds with the 'kaupapa' or culture of the Maori Party, which tried to debate issues rather than criticize people.

   A spokesman for New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark told Radio New Zealand Tuesday morning that Harawira's comments were 'regrettable.' She said that Howard had been a good friend to New Zealand and she was concerned that any member of parliament would lash out in this way.

   The opposition National Party Foreign Affairs spokesman Murray McCully told Radio New Zealand that the comments would not improve New Zealand's relationship with Australia.

   But the foreign affairs spokesman for the Green Party, a minority party in government, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the Greens agreed with Harawira's use of the term racist.

   And the New Zealand Maori Council said the Maori Party should be congratulated for its comments. The Council's deputy chair Jim Nicholls told Radio New Zealand Tuesday that the situation in Australia could be likened to apartheid in South Africa.

Harawira had likened Howard's intervention to the United States invasion of Iraq, because he claimed Howard's move would appeal to voters in election year and allow the state to control the 'outback,' the Australian Northern Territories, and its rich mineral reserves.

Harawira also said that if such policies were promoted in New Zealand, his tribe, Nga Puhi, would take up arms in resistance.

The Australian embassy in New Zealand's capital Wellington declined to comment to dpa on Harawira's statement.

Harawira entered parliament in 2005. He is the son of a veteran Maori rights campaigner and has a reputation for radicalism and blunt language. Harawira has always advocated for a separate parliament and judicial system for Maori, New Zealand's indigenous population.

The Maori Party issued a statement Monday evening that backed Harawira's comments.

The statement was titled 'Hone or John: who to believe?' It said the Maori Party was carefully considering the recent report on sexual abuse of Aboriginal children, and that the party questioned whether the Australian government's responses in the past had been effective.

Maori Party co-leader Dr Pita Sharples said the Party 'would not have thought military intervention to be at all appropriate in dealing with the sensitive nature of the situation outlined in the report.'

The Maori Party has four seats in New Zealand's 121-member Parliament. The Party was formed in 2004 over anger at a government law that they said took Maori customary authority over the seabed and foreshore and vested it in the Crown.